Orchard Bank - Rip Off

Orchard Bank - Rip Off

September 28, 2006

First let me state that everyone should seriously looked into the hundreds of complaints filed against Orchard Bank before they consider doing business with them. I writing this e-mail to protect others from the scamming practices of Orchard Bank. In April 06, I applied and received an Orchard Bank credit card with a balance of $300.00. I recently had some credit problems which I'm well on my way to correct. Orchard Bank advertises that they are the perfect bank to help folks as they try to repair their credit. Well, six months later I received notification that my interest rate was increasing from about 14% to 29%. I paid my bill every month on time without issues. When I called them they told me that they reserve the right to review my credit status with the credit reporting agencies (Equifax they stated), and based on my credit they could increase my rate. I checked with Equifax and they have no record of being contacted by Orchard bank. Also, my credit position is better today then it was when I received the card six months ago. The rude and obnoxious folks at Orchard Bank has told me on three separate occasions that would send me a detailed letter explaining the increase but they could not do anything for me. After doing some research I find that I'm not the only one they have done this to. It seems the scam is this....suck folks in with less than perfect credit. Charge high annual fees which we all pay, then double the interest rate once you have the customer hooked. If you cancel the card they win as well since you have already paid a ridiculously high annual fee just to get the card. They win in both cases. Is this legal??? If anyone is considering Orchard Bank do your homework first and find the hundreds of complaints I later found about them.

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A class action is being initiated against Orchard Bank by customers with complaints similar to yours. If you are interested please contact me at Kptoro AT gmail.com

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I am havig a NIGHT MARE with Orchard Bank, I am getting charged $30.00 late fees as well as payemnt fees. I am being calle dat work and I told the rep that if she called me her again I wouyld reach through the phone and stangle her!!! I refuse to pauy anymore on these cards {2} that I have from them. They can KISS IT!!!

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I am havig a NIGHT MARE with Orchard Bank, I am getting charged $30.00 late fees as well as payemnt fees. I am being calle dat work and I told the rep that if she called me her again I wouyld reach through the phone and stangle her!!! I refuse to pauy anymore on these cards {2} that I have from them. They can KISS IT!!!

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I've had this card for 4 yrs. I never once have received an increase although I pay my bill on time and always more then the minimum due. I asked again about an increase and was turned down but they did offer to refund my $59 annual fee. Once that posts I plan to pay them off cut the card in half and return it. Cortrust Bank gave me a $200 increase in 6 months of being open. Screw Orchard...

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I have been a card member for about a year. I have always paid my monthly payments on time. About a month ago, I paid the card off in full. I have recently received a statment saying that I was late and over my limit due to months of late charges.($500 over the limit to be exact!!) To top it off, the credit card company sent me to collections for "lack of payment", and of course, collections have been calling me nonstop. My card has been paid off in full for over a month. How can they do this?

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I haven't had any of these problems while dealing with them. I was in a situation where I had never established credit and HSBC provided me with a means to do so. After about a year and a half, my secured card was converted to a non-secured card, and my limit has automatically increased twice. The fees have remained the same. My only complaint would be that they would constantly call my house trying to get me to enroll in various programs that charge a monthly fee. Other than that I've had no problems dealing with them.

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If you need to pay your bill and can't get to it on the Internet you can go to your local Western Union and pay $12.95 to send however much you want to Orchard Bank. The code city is " Cloud " and the code state is " Or. " write it down. You will receive a receipt and a control number, no more people telling you that you didn't pay the bill. Just give these jerks a day or two to try to get their payment cause you never know what they might try to pull.

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Without going into why had to go to these guys for a credit card i am just happy i have one to use. I needed one for making reservations for hotels and car rentals and to not have to carry so mush cash on me. It serves the purpose well and it also has helped me become more responsiable with paying my bills. I do wish they would give me a small limit increase once in a while but hey as i stated above i am just happy to have a credit card!

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Orchard Bank - Rip Off

February 15, 2008

I have had this card for at least 3 years in which I have paid more than the minimum payment, have never been late and have had a zero balance for the last 6 months. Orchard Bank has never increased my credit limit or lowered their interest. When I received a statement in Dec. charging me 39.00 for annual fee, I called them and asked that it would be waived since I was a good customer, they said no, so I asked them to close my acct. I was told that they would instead send me a Gold card and I would not have to pay the annual fee plus I would get increase on credit limit. Two weeks later I received Gold card but no increase in credit limit. I got suspicious and did not activate the new card. Yesterday I received a statement that indicated a past due amount of $39.00, a past due charge of $30.00 and $1.00 finance charge for a total of $70.00. WHAT A RIP!!! and that's without activating card. I called them today and told them to close my account. I will never do business with this foreign company again.

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02-08-08 Same problem, but HSBC offered me another card, a MC with a higher credit limit, but after I used the card, the limit was lowered and I was charged an over the limit fee a higher interest rate because I was over my limit, and the payment date changes even though I was set up for auto payments and charged past due charge, so even though I was making payments there was no way to pay this off. These cards are rip offs, beware

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Orchard Bank Rip Off Advertising on Yahoo.

I clicked on their ad for a MasterCard, and the first thing I noticed is nowhere on their website do they show they are FDIC insured.

I filed an inquiry with FDIC after I saw the huge fees they require to get their card:

Processing Fee $0 - $49^

(depending on credit rating) $29 - $124

Annual Fee $0 - $96^

(depending on credit rating) $48 - $150

Their extremely high unusual fees was an immediate RED FLAG to me, and it should be to you, too.

To file a Consumer Inquiry with FDIC see this link:

https://www2.fdic.gov/starsmail/index.asp

My immediate hunch that they are actually running a scam disguised by annual and monthly fees led me to this good forum.

CHECK banks out BEFORE you send them your money.

I thank YOU for your post - it saved me from being ripped off, and I am grateful for that!

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Thank You all. I received my card today. And was just looking at the web site. Before doing anything. And I Goggled it and say this site, THANK GOD The card is being cut up as I typ to you all. Thank You. One saved soul.

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I just wanted to say I agree with what you are explaining here. I am also trying to rebuild my credit. Unfortunately, we are people who ruined our credit, due to irresponsiblity or hardships beyond our control. It is just a consequence and in order to rebuild we will have to put up with fluctuating interest rates. Just don't forget to read the terms and conditions before accepting a card. I know First Premier Bank states that it reserves the right to change the terms of the account including the APR's at any time. So read the pamphlet and study it hard. But think to yourself, if the APR's go up can I afford it...because it is a good possibilty that it will. Despite the high rates, remember that you are trying to build your credit back up after bad reports and it is not going to be easy.

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I have been a customer of Orchard Bank since 2001 and still have a 22.4% interest rate on a master card. I originally was sucked into this card because of a bankruptcy in 2000. Since then my wife got a master card for 16.9% and then got a Visa card for 12.9% both from Orchard. I have improved my credit rating to over 700 and they still refuse to decrease my interest rate. Now I know why. I wish I would have known this before my wife got her cards. We will now make every attempt to pay off all of these cards and get some legitmate ones. I will also give word of mouth over the Orchard Bank card scams!!

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If you pay it off in full every month than why do you care what the interest rate % is?

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I have a complaint but mines is dealing with the super slow way they give credit line increases. I have been a Orchard Master Card holder since 2000 althought I can't complain about things like their raising my interest rate because I homestly haven't experienced anything like that but since having their credit card my credit limit is only $4150.00 now what's amusing is I have a Washington Mutual Visa which is formerly known as Providian that got around the same time frame and I used both cards heavily to this day my Visa credit line is well over 12k and I wasn't paying off the balances in one or two payments either...Oh well people might read what I posted and ask themself...what's his problem and maybe to them I don't have a "real" problem, but I just figured I throw it out there...maybe someone has some advice on that...

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No people you are wrong, I work for a credit repair company..Im telling you now if you pay the balance off every month you are waisting your time. If there is a 0 balance reported every month then it shows you are making no payments. So no payments on time means no credit score increase. You need to carry a balance and pay on it ON TIME in order for a credit score increase. Plus when getting a home loan the bankers like to say.. hmm I see youve had a 500.00 balance that you have been paying on and on time every month for a year now. Paying off the balance in full every month does save you interest, but it also shows you have x amount of dollars that you can spend at any time and be responsable for payments, nothing shows that your making your monthly payments with a 0 balance.

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I am in total agreement with the statements presented about Orchard Bank aka HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp). This is a foreign registered bank corporation and predatory lender. I myself had fallen into the "Bad Credit" category and accepted this card with the belief that it would better my credit score. How wrong I was!

It appears that this card along with numerous other cards offered by HSBC, under the cloud of different names, preys upon the less fortunate with perceived promises of improving their credit score or rating. They falsely create the illusion that your rate of interest will be between 15 to 16 percent. I have read all their advertisements and no where does it state that this is an introductory offer or that

due to your "Bad Credit Score" your rate will be raised to 29% within 6 months of inception. This so called credit score is the same one that the card is issued from!

It is extremely easy to place the blame on the skills or lack of them on handling ones finances. However when those less fortunate are intentionally mislead under legal methods of deception the time for change and protection has arrived. HSBC can be likened to the mob who breaks arms when payment are not received as promised. The mob however is always willing to accept payment up to the due date. They don't tell you an additional sum is necessary to pay 2 days in advance because their "standard online payment" won't post to your account until the third day. This makes the decision narrowed to an additional $12.95 (cost of Express Service) or a late fee of $30.00. You make the choice! They win no matter what!

I have had this card for 2 years and never missed a payment and in fact have paid the balance on numerous occasions. My reward for all this responsible handling of my finances has been an interest rate of 29% from 16% and a credit line of $300.00 (same as the initial one issued) Its called planned deception!

I would also like to note here I did try out the Sharebuilder program offered by Orchard (HSBC) in July of 2007 only to find that it too was a shame. The fees were totally out of line with main stream brokers. I can happily report that they have since sold this program to ING Corporation and all now seems to be in line with reputable brokers.

I have notice in other posts here that some pay off the entire balance every month. I have also noted that some even believe that this helps their credit. Others have even tried to compare HSBC cards with the major issuers of quality credit cards. To these folks I say, study harder and maybe apply for a position with HSBC as you have become part of the problem and not the solution.

In closing I hope all of you are doing well. I recommend you pay this card off as soon as possible and rid yourself of these parasites. I also recommend that you write your state and federal representatives and the banking commission. Your complaints will be heard in places that can do something about these problems. Make no mistake, these are serious problems and laws must be changed to protect against companies like this!

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I too have had the worse experience with orchard Bank, they says thei was to help improve my credit, this in fact was to creaste more debt, I have paid my original credit limit over and over again their customer reps are trained to keep in the hole, I deeple regret getting getting this card, I havent pid the card for some time now I am worst off than before....What a big mistake, I had no ideal this was a trp, and you are rieht the biggest mistake was to get his card, this just predatory lending...What do i do count my losses and pay the credit card off...

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With regards to everyone here...Please don't take this statement wrong, but in all honesty, this is how it works;

First, before anything, let me explain some of my current background: Bankruptcy, discharged in August 07, 2 repo's (thanks to layoffs at work) and a history of BAD finance practices! I never attended any stupid credit counselling courses (why spend more money to learn how to use mine more wisely!).

Since the bankruptcy, I have 3 credit cards and my wife has 2. These cards (HSBC is one of them) are geared for the bad credit people, like me. First Premier was our first credit card (High fees, monthly charges and low limits...Sucky card at best, but they report payments to the credit bureu's (and they have done this on time for us over the past 2 months). Because of them, my credit score went from 400 to the mid 600's inside of 2 months and has now made me eligible for better card options.

HSBC was the next card I got. $500 limit (of course, - the $79.00 fee) and a great user interface for bill payments. I have not yet paid the bill (not due yet), but I did spend a lot of time getting familiar with my billing cycles, payment terms, so on and so forth...As long as payments are scheduled 3 days ahead of time, it will be posted before the due dates (if you read through the website, they make it a point to clearly identify HOW their billing works) and as long as the balance is paid in FULL each month, I have no worries over interest rates, so I could really care less HOW high the rates go...

The key to this is simple; We all run into bad situations, the point of having to work with these high-risk credit card co's is to help build better financing HABITS, not to keep running ourselves into a hole! If you can't plan your finances and work with these guys, how the hell are you going to deal with better card companies? (Big banks, like B of A, Wells Fargo, etc... all come after you with even just a hint of a LATE payment, and you think these smaller card companies charge high rate increases...Ha! Try dealing with your LOCAL bank! Talk about screwing the little guy!)

Get into better finance habits and I'm sure you won't be complaining over HOW they charged you fees for paying on-time (just because the envelope is mailed, doesn't mean they recieved it on time...and most places don't offer any grace periods any more...). Plan ahead and only charge what you can afford, maybe your credit will move up and your stress level will move down... After years of bad habits, I had to ultimately make the decision to change my spending habits to better my credit. Once the cycle starts, it's easy to keep the momentum going!

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I am not surprised by all these complaints about Orchard Bank - aka Household Bank, aka HSBC(?). I work for a merchant who occasionally has to contact banks on behalf of customers and Orchard bank has the WORST customer service. If you can get past their automated system to talk to someone in India, they often cannot help you and have to transfer you to someone else. It is always time consuming and frustrating to deal with them. Their operations are not up to industry standards.

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What the hell is wrong with you people?

http://www.orchardbank.com

There's a freaking tab, right in the middle of the page, to pay your bill with!

Pay your bill in full every month and then you won't have to worry about the interest rate. If you don't have the money to pay the bill, then don't spend the money.

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The solution to your problem is simple. Take advantage of the grace period! Pay off the balance to $0 each month and you'll never pay the interest rate again, even for new purchases. They'll have to carry your monthly purchases for up to two months (depending on when in the billing cycle each purchase is made) for FREE!

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I too have been having trouble trying to pay my orchard bank bill online. I finally found a website last month that worked and this month when I logged on, the page had been closed. It was originally a good page because the payment I posted showed up on my statement. Here is how orchard bank works: You (the cardholder) are very busy so you wait to log on & pay your bill two days before it is due because you think that will give it enough time to post. But you can't find the page. Well by the time you realize you can't pay it online becaues you can't find the option to do that, it is too late. Now you will have a late fee added to your account. That late fee just might be what puts you over your limit which adds another $30+ to your account. Now you owe over $60 in charges by orchard bank and you also still owe that monthly payment you tried to pay but couldn't find the option to do so. Then you call in to explain and the customer support representative is acting as though you need to do a better job at taking care of your business because your credit is so important. Have no fear, she will make you feel as though you should be grateful to have one but not both of those fees removed as a one time customer courtesy. That's right, "one time" meaning if you have had any of these fees removed in the past year, you are **** out of luck this time. Don't kid yourself by thinking this is the way they make their money. When you make a purchase, the credit card companies normally get at least 3% of the amount of your sale from any business where you use your card. Anyone who has trouble with this company needs to contact the local better business bureau to reprot such behavior. Pay off those cards and refuse to do business with HSBC/Orchard Bank. Thanks for your kindness orchard bank. Merry Christmas to you too!

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i totally agree! i was paying more than the balance due each month, but still came close to my credit limit but never went over. in november of 07, they charged my anual fee, which they didnt email me about it being due, which in turn caused my credit limit to go over. they raised my interest rate from 18% to 29% for something i could of corrected if i new it was due.they also put it on my credit report as being negative. im paying this card off and i hope i helped someone else who is trying to repair there credit from being sucked in.

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I have had this card and the service is inefficient. Phone payments with the use of checking account numbers are inputted inaccurately causing payments to be rejected by the checking account bank, penalties are added by Orchard Bank who does not take responsibility for the errors of its employees. Customer Service representatives are nice but non English speaking and centered in the Philapines (sic) and Calcutta. They hold payments for up to 14 days during which of course, interest is accruing for them on billions. All credit cards are secured so there is no risk for them and sloppy, deplorable service filled with errors.

There has to be another player in town.

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the other day I got a phone call from Orchard bank saying I have a a ballance due and they need $30.00 now to keep my account current. trouble is I do not have any kind of account with this bank! the guy knew my SSI number, address and employers name, and my girlfriends name!I told the guy to send me a statement and I will look into it as I am sure i do not have a card with them. so far no statement has come and no further phone calls. the guy did give me the 800 number of theyr fraud department whic I have not called. I'm goint to talk to my bank about this.

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I have this card as well and so far no problems except for when I logged onto their web page that I originally logged onto to create and online account to make my payment I noticed liked the other people that option was gone!

I did do some research and found the link, https://www.hsbccreditcard.com/ecare/loginform?locale=en_US&brand=OB_000_000

I was able to logon there with my user id & password and pay my bill.

Just trying to be helpfull, I am taking your alls warnings and paying off the credit card. Do take this into consideration if you close an account like a credit card it will lower your credit rating. I know it sounds stupid because you would think it would show responsability by closing a credit card account. I was informed by credit counceling, my loan officer at my bank and also the suzie orman show that creditors also look at it as if you couldn't control yourself with that credit card and that's why you closed the account. It's stupid, but anything to lower yuor rating so they can hike up your interest rate when applying for credit.

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Oh my god, so I've had this Orchard credit card for at least 2 years... Pay my bill online every month... I went to log in to pay my bill today and www.orchardbank.com just pulls up a huge credit card application. No options to access your own account... just a giant application screen. I clicked on the "contact us" button at the bottom and the site would not allow me to contact them because I wasn't logged in. I clicked the "log me in" button and it told me that that page doesn't exist.

I called the 800-number (that took me weeks to figure out when I first got the card) and it did not allow for human contact. The toll-free number is completely automated and in order to speak to a CSR, you have to call a long distance number with a (503) area code.

My first question for the CSR was why such a huge company would not have a toll-free line for customer service. Of course he was Indian and didn't understand me, so I had to be transferred to a supervisor.

After 9 minutes on hold, the supervisor informed me that they are doing us a favor by not having a toll-free line because that "keeps our costs down." ?????????????

So of course she could not solve the internet problem so I was transferred to another department, on hold for 4 more minutes, LONG DISTANCE, and the next person told me that their website "doesn't like aol." That was the only solution. They're working on it.

STAY AWAY FROM ORCHARD BANK. THEY ARE A COMPLETE PAIN IN THE ASS!!!!!

***I also have a 29% interest rate, as stated above, and my credit has done nothing but improve since I got the card***

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this person is right, orchard bank is a rip off. they cant wait to put extra charges on your account. they dont have a 800 # you can call, and the # listed on your statement is automated, and it cost you to call, not the bank. this is a good way for a small bank to build their business, its almost like legal stealing. unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it, except pay them off and cansel there card.

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hi

im going through a total nightmare with them myself,

i returned the card to them last year in october,because

when i got the card,i set it up for billpay with my bank, to be paid on the 6th or 7th each month, orchard bank started charging me a late fee of 30 dollars. my due date is the 30th,so i called customer service and was told they would change the date, i have been told that by over 12 different employess of orchard bank, sine last year

and they still have not fixed it,im getting charged a late fee every month and only charged 86.00 on the card total

and am being charged over 380.00 in fees

i had my friend call them,last month and they lied to him

and said it would be fixed,

i feel for anyone who gets a card with them